Appliances News

Sept. 6, 2016—Department of Energy (DOE) finally proposed a new minimum-efficiency standard for gas furnaces, its first since 1992, and our prediction about the shape of the standard proved to be on the mark.

Electronics News

Oct. 28, 2016—A touch screen finally came to Apple’s computing line, but it wasn’t in a way that consumers would expect. Apple announced the first updates to its MacBook Pro line of notebook computers in at least 2 years, and the biggest development was the addition of a touch screen … on the keyboard.

Home News

Sept. 6, 2016—Department of Energy (DOE) finally proposed a new minimum-efficiency standard for gas furnaces, its first since 1992, and our prediction about the shape of the standard proved to be on the mark.

Health News

Nov. 10, 2016—Change will come to how some consumers buy health insurance—the recent presidential election all but guarantees it—but two experts tell Consumers Digest that any changes likely won’t take effect in 2017. In other words, consumers who are eligible to buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace should act as though nothing has changed.

Travel & Recreation News

Nov. 17, 2016—Further evidence that no matter how bad that it gets when it comes to air travel, it always could get worse comes to us through United Airlines’ announcement of a reduced-fare class that comes with restrictions attached—the biggest being a limit on the size of carry-on luggage.

Lawn & Garden News

Feb. 27, 2015—The company says its EXi Series lawnmower engine has improved air cleaner seals and operates at cooler temperatures than previous engines do. As a result, it never has to have its oil changed as long as consumers add oil as necessary.

Oct. 27, 2014—Toro says the TimeCutter SW Series will be available in January 2015 and the price range will be $2,999–$4,500. The ZTRs are Toro’s first that use a steering wheel rather than handlebars to turn on a dime.

Money News

Aug. 4, 2016—The outbreak of diseases can be worrisome. Unfortunately, scammers always are at the ready to provide bogus solutions that do nothing but defraud consumers. Their latest target: Zika fears.

As expected, more states accepting Medicaid expansion in 2013

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State opposition to the use of federal funds for Medicaid expansion as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is starting to crumble, experts tell Consumers Digest.

Four states that had opposed the expansion of Medicaid eligibility indicated in February and March 2013 that they will reverse course, and other states that had opposed it might follow in the months ahead, according to two experts whom we interviewed.

The change of heart by some states represents the start of a domino effect that experts had predicted during the past 8 months in ConsumersDigest.com stories. Experts believe that it could be just a matter of time before other states agree to approve the expansion of Medicaid eligibility within the state.

Without Medicaid expansion, the burden of paying for health-care services for uninsured low-income individuals in each state falls primarily to cash-strapped local governments. As a result, elected officials who represent opposition states are facing pressure from county and municipal officials to accept federal tax dollars so more individuals can have access to Medicaid, says Elena Marks, who is a health-policy expert at Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Among other initiatives, the Affordable Care Act seeks to expand Medicaid eligibility in each state for an additional 12 million individuals, and the federal government would pay states to cover the majority of those costs.

Since Feb. 4, 2013, the governors of Arkansas, Florida, New Jersey and Ohio have announced that they will allow the federal government to pay for Medicaid expansion in those states. The four states were among the 26 that initially said they would reject federal funds for Medicaid, because their governors don’t want to increase the federal budget.

Opposition still exists, of course. Republican state legislators in Florida say they will try to block Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s support of Medicaid expansion. In Nebraska, Republican Gov. Dave Heineman announced Feb. 27, 2013, that his state will continue to oppose federally funded Medicaid expansion. Two other states that initially opposed Medicaid expansion—Tennessee and Utah—are reviewing the issue and likely will make a final decision later in March 2013.

As of March 5, 2013, 27 states signaled that they support the use of federal dollars to expand Medicaid, according to Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which is a health-policy-analysis organization that compiles a database of Medicaid expansion in each state. Seventeen states are listed as opposing expansion, while seven states are listed as undecided on the issue. To determine the status of your state, click here.

Even states that most strongly oppose Medicaid expansion are likely to accept it as more states sign on, says Genevieve Kenney of social-policy research group Urban Institute. Kenney says residents in opposition states likely will pressure their state leaders to accept federal funds when they realize that their federal tax dollars pay for Medicaid expansion in other states.

Marks believes that even Texas, where state elected officials staunchly oppose all provisions of the Affordable Care Act, eventually could accept Medicaid expansion for the same reason, which is to say that Texas won’t want other states to benefit from their tax money.

“I am cautiously optimistic that Texas will seize on this opportunity because of the health benefits to the people who would gain coverage,” Marks says.

June 26, 2012—Food and Drug Administration is a day away from deciding whether to approve the first prescription weight-loss medication in 13 years, and it’s scheduled to rule on a second weight-loss medication next month.